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ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
City Hall
Jones Street
THIS FILE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
1958 ARMORY SITE PROPOSED FOR NEW CITY HALL
01 16 The site of the old
Armory building, now the Recreation Building, in Main Street between North
Seventh and North Eighth Street, has been proposed as the most logical location
for a new City Hall for Watertown. The
recommendation has been proposed by the architects, Durrant
and Bergquist of Boscobel, Wis., and Dubuque, Ia., who some months ago were
delegated by the City Council to study the matter of a solution to the present
overcrowded and largely outmoded City Hall
1959 ARMORY SITE, OLD WEBSTER SCHOOL, PROPOSED
FOR NEW CITY HALL
09 02 Two sites are under consideration and
available for the construction of Watertown's long-discussed and proposed new
city hall—when and if the city council at last goes ahead and decides to build. That was announced last night following the
regular meeting of the council when City Manager C. C. Congdon presented to the
councilmen the first “layout” for the building.
As yet the council has not authorized a new
city hall and it is still in the planning stage. The information presented by the manager
merely reflects the various department spaces and facilities that have thus far
been proposed for the new building. The
two sites which have been made available are the old
Armory location in Main Street, now utilized as the city recreational
building, and the old Webster School site in
Western Avenue. Plans for a new city
hall, which have been discussed for years, reached a point more than a year ago
when two miniature models of such a structure were prepared and studied by the
council.
1961
01 05 $400,000 BOND ISSUE FOR NEW CITY HALL
Plans for a $400,000
bond issue to finance the proposed new fire and police department building moved
ahead another step last night when the city council approved the initial
resolution for the bonds. The vote was 6 to 0, with Councilman Floyd Shaefer
being absent. Acting City Manager Glenn R. Ferry said after the meeting that
Mr. Shaefer’s absence was due to a funeral out of town. The vote on the initial
resolution, sponsored by Councilman George Shephard, came without a word of
discussion or debate. WDT
1962
02 02 MEMORIAL PARK SITE FOR NEW CITY HALL
By a vote of 12 to 2
and with no debate whatever, the common council last night approved Memorial
Park as a site for Watertown’s proposed new city hall, which is to include both
fire and police department headquarters.
Last night’s approval had been foreshadowed on Monday when the aldermen
held their committee meeting and at which only two aldermen — Erich E. Nuernberg and Kenneth Wilkes — indicated they would oppose
the plan. They cast the only two
negative votes on the resolution last night, a resolution which was introduced
by Alderman William Wiegand, the council’s president. WDT
05 02 ARCHITECT WILLIAM HORNE
The common council at its committee meeting decided
that it will vote on a resolution to approve authorization of a contract with
the Madison architect, William Horne, relative to his plans for a new city hall
in Memorial Park. The council was told
by Mayor Robert P. White that the city hall cost is placed at $495,000
approximately, and that the plans should be in by June 1.
08 12 PLANS FOR AREA HEADQUARTERS OF CIVIL
DEFENSE
The
importance of making a wise decision in the construction of Watertown's new
city hall, in Memorial Park, was stressed today by Robert A. Hensen, Civil Defense director for the Southeast Reception
Area who resides here at 1121 North, Fourth Street.
The
plans as now constituted call for establishment of an area headquarters of
Civil Defense in the basement quarters of the proposed building.
The
common council this week held up all plans on the city hall project for at
least two weeks in order to learn what action Congress
will take in regard to restoring some $8,000,000 for establishment of such area
headquarters in some 40 to 50 cities across the nation.
The
sum was included in recent cuts made by the house.
08 28 COST OF NEW MUNICIPAL BUILDING
The new proposed municipal
building, to be erected on Memorial Park, and which will cost the city close to
$600,000 if basement quarters are included in the project, will be erected at
no increase in the city tax rate, Mayor Robert P. White asserted last night at
a special meeting of the common council.
White gave the assurance of no increase in taxes during a discussion of
the building project financing. He also
reported that there now is an excellent chance of obtaining federal funds so
that Civil Defense facilities can be included in the structure. WDT
1963
04 12 CONTRACTS AND FINANCING FOR NEW CITY HALL
The common council by
unanimous vote last night gave the go ahead signal for a project which has been
kicked around here for several years, including not only by the present council
but during the previous one. It approved
contracts and financing for a new city hall which will be
located in Memorial Park. The meeting last night had been set for the
specific purpose of taking final action on the proposal and as expected, the
council decided to approve the project, since practically all arguments for and
against it had long ago been exhausted.
WDT
1964
04 08 CITY’S HONOR ROLL
The request from the Watertown
Veterans Council that the city’s honor roll be placed somewhere in the new
Watertown Municipal Building or city hall now nearing completion in Memorial
Park is being considered and will in all probability be carried out. The veteran’s council has also requested that
the name of the present City Park, between South Third and South Fourth
Streets, be changed to Veterans Memorial Park
and this is also to receive serious study in the next few weeks. WDT
06 09 CIVIL DEFENSE
CENTER in City Hall
Wisconsin’s Civil
Defense organization for the 17-county area in which Watertown serves as the
center was put on its first major test alert Saturday, drawing some 200
persons, both from the city and the area.
Headquarters for the area, which have been established in the basement
quarters of the new Watertown Municipal building, were utilized in what was the
first large scale operation. State Civil
Defense leaders, including Owen Monfils, Green Bay, said the Watertown
installation is the finest they have seen anywhere in the state. One called it “the best by far.” WDT
07 07 Park
Superintendent E. E. Brumm and workers in the park
department will have charge of maintaining the grounds of the new Watertown
Municipal Building. This will involve
taking care of the shrubbery, cutting the grass, snow removal in the wintertime
and such other outdoor maintenance work required to keep the former Memorial
Park area in proper condition and in good appearance. It was pointed out that the department had
charge of the area when it was known as Memorial Park and that the construction
of the new municipal building should make no change in its maintenance. It was also pointed out that the actual
maintenance area is now greatly reduced, because of the building which occupies
the major share of the former park. WDT
08 26 Work was
begun this morning on moving city departments into the new Watertown Municipal
Building in Memorial Park. Several
delays resulted in the city being unable to occupy the building at the time
originally set, but moving is now underway.
The mayor said that at a meeting of the special building committee held
this morning a letter from William Horne, the architect, stated that the
building was “substantially complete” and was discussed. WDT
02 04 NEW MUNICIPAL BUILDING DEDICATION
Watertown’s new
municipal building stands today as a memorial to the city’s veterans and its war
dead and a monument to municipal government that will continue to serve the
city for years to come. The building was
dedicated Saturday afternoon, seven months behind schedule and five months
after it was first occupied. Gov. Warren
P. Knowles came from Madison to deliver the principal address. WDT
08 12 REPAIRS AND REPLACEMENTS OF NEW MUNICIPAL
BUILDING
Work on repairs and
replacements at the recently constructed Watertown Municipal Building is
continuing. It has turned into a major
repair job. Deep trenches had to be dug
with earth moving equipment to correct ground settling. Areas around the main entrance of the
building are being filled with sand after which concrete work will be re-done
and repairs made to entrances damaged by the removal of old construction. Masche, Inc., of
Lake Mills was awarded the contract to make the repairs. Still to be done is the vast area in front of
the fire department section of the building.
WDT
1966
Aug EXTERIOR VIEW
1967
INSTALLATION OF MONUMENT HONORING VETERANS
03 23 
03 30 CIVIL DEFENSE
CENTER MOVED TO WAUKESHA
The last Civil
Defense office, still occupying space in the Watertown Municipal Building, will
be moved out along about next November and will be relocated in new
headquarters being established at Waukesha.
Originally the Civil Defense Administration was paying $100 per month to
the city for its quarters here. Now it
is paying $70. It was disclosed that the
emergency equipment housed here will remain on a local basis.
1988
07 18 The
Watertown Common Council took a step to alleviate overcrowding in city hall Tuesday
by endorsing the purchase of two properties on South First Street. The council voted, 11-1, to offer $87,500 for
buildings and land owned by Brandt Inc.
at 507 and 515 S. First St. WDT
1990
05 19 SPACE NEEDS AT MUNICIPAL BUILDING
The Watertown Common
Council decided to hire an outside firm to take a look at space needs at the
Watertown Municipal Building. The
council voted, 11-1, to hire Foth & Van Dyke of Madison for an amount not
to exceed $6,790. The engineering/architectural
firm will review current and future needs of city departments and make
recommendations on how to provide for those needs. Alderman Norman Bartel, who is chairman of
the public welfare and buildings and grounds committee, said the study should
help the city plan for building needs for 20 years. He noted that Watertown has experienced
substantial development in recent years.
WDT
08 15 PLANS FOR THE EXPANSION OF MUNICIPAL
BUILDING
Plans for the expansion
of the Watertown Municipal Building, including an elevator, are being
formulated by an architectural consultant hired by the city. Preliminary plans, which were presented to
members of the Watertown Common Council by Foth and Van Dyke of Madison
Thursday night, include a 14-by-80-foot expansion on the front of the
building. The new two-story area would
create additional room for the crowded police department. WDT
1993
06 25 SPACE NEEDS AT MUNICIPAL BUILDING
The city's public works committee Monday decided on
locations for two elevators to be added to the municipal building and the
senior center. The panel decided to
build the elevator at the senior center on the exterior of the building's south
main entrance. In order to use the
elevator, people will enter the vestibule and turn left. At the municipal
building, the elevator will be built at the main entrance to city offices. The three-stop elevator will be built on the
south side of the building, adjacent to the conference room. City Engineer Joseph Radocay said the
existing canopy on the city hall entrance will need to be replaced to
accommodate the elevator shaft. A new
canopy will be built to match the decor of the building, he said.
1999
03 21 Recommended
a cap of $5 million on a new police facility and renovations to the
municipal building WDT
2000
02 11 SPACE NEEDS, Municipal
Building
A new concept for
solving the city's space needs at the Watertown Municipal Building was proposed
by Mayor Fred Smith at Tuesday evening's meeting of the public works committee
of the Watertown Common Council. Smith
suggested the city purchase Tom's United Foods, located at 100 E. Cady St.,
renovate it and use it as offices for the city's administrative
departments. He said he would only
pursue the plan with the support of the “full (common) council.” Smith suggested that if the food store,
located across the street from the municipal building, could be purchased for
an acceptable price, it could be renovated for municipal offices. That would leave the existing municipal
building for police and fire needs. WDT
2001
03 21 PROPOSED MUNICIPAL
BUILDING ADDITION AND RENOVATION
Information on the proposed
$4.3 million municipal building addition and renovation, which will appear on
the April 3 election ballot as a referendum, will be available for the public
to review at an open house at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The open house meeting will take place in Room 69 of the municipal
building. City officials and a
city-hired architect, Thom Miron, of Stubenrauch Architects, Inc., will be
present at the meeting. Miron designed the proposal. Residents can view displays of the proposal,
as well as study its square footage and cost breakdown. WDT
2002
CITY
HALL EXPANSION AND RENOVATION / Watertown Municipal Building
03 18 
Cross
References:
Fuermann Brewery, City
Hall occupies former site of
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin